England's aggression propelled them to 408 for nine, their highest total in the format and the most runs New Zealand have conceded.
England delivered a touch of touché to New Zealand's familiar brand, but it could be considered a case of imitation being the greatest form of flattery.
2. The bowling and fielding...
... Was too erratic with Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid in such imperious form.
The latter duo surpassed ODI cricket's world record for a seventh-wicket partnership by 47 runs with their effort of 177, after coming together at 202-6 with 20 overs left.
Trent Boult summed it up post-match: "We were off our game, got hit both sides of wicket, overpitched and need to sort out death plans to a few of their batsmen. It's never nice to drop catches, and the ones that went down were crucial, that's for sure."
In terms of oxygen to England's 408-9, the two dropped catches from Ross Taylor and one from Brendon McCullum cost 107 runs.
3. Recall Tim Southee and Corey Anderson
Anderson's back strain is expected to be right by the second one-dayer and Southee was only rested after strenuous test work. Expect both to feature at the Oval if they're ready.
Mitchell Santner is here for development purposes so it should not be the last time he features in the series. Initially he had a steady debut with the ball; after three overs he had 1-16 before blowing out to 1-64 from eight, but he never feared about pitching up.
He also faced an intimidating time to bat as the required run rate crept to double figures.
Presumably Mitchell McClenaghan (2-93 from 10) or Matt Henry (0-73 from 10) will need to make way for Southee to see if he can generate any of the aura which brought him 7-33 against the hosts at Wellington during the World Cup.
# Ford, the driving force behind the Black Caps
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